100questions

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100 Questions: For people designing digital products

Synopsis

The design process is comprised of a long string of questions. 100 Questions collects my favorite questions, the ones I ask on every project, the ones the fuel creativity the best.

Objectives

• The purpose of 100 Questions is to give designers working on digital products a library of questions they can use in their own processes.
• But beyond the questions themselves, 100 Questions is a treatise on inquiry, curiosity, and listening – essential atrributes of the practicing designer.
• Through the 100 questions, designers will learn how to ask better questions, and how to listen.

Structure

Each question will get a single spread. The description of each question includes five sections:

• What I’m asking – the intent of the question
• Who to ask – the person best positioned to answer the question
• What to expect – suggestions on what to listen for in the response
• When to ask – guidance on how to integrate the question into the design process
• What to ask next – how to keep the conversation going

Finally, each description will end with strategies on how to adapt the question or change how the question is framed.

The questions will be presented in alphabetical order, for lack of a better way of organizing them. The questions are versatile, and defy simple categorization, much less linear ordering. But each question will be tagged. Some tags will describe context – where and when the question is most useful. Some tags will describe subjects – who you might ask the question. I hope there is an index that lists the questions by tag.

Target Audience

The ideal reader for 100 Questions is a designer or product manager. They want to level-up their question-asking ability by thinking about the questions they do ask (or might ask) – how they’re phrased, what they expect, and how they fit into the design process. Although this book is ostensibly a list of questions, it is not for people who just want to know what questions to ask. Instead, it is targeted at those who engage in reflective practice about their approach to design, research, management, and leadership.

About the Author

Dan Brown is an information architect and user experience designer based in Washington, DC. He has written three books on UX design, published dozens of articles, and spoken all over the world.

Sample Questions